Lawsuit claims 'Big Bang' stole 'Soft Kitty' song

Maria Puente, USA TODAY 12:28 a.m. EST December 29, 2015

(Photo: Michael Yarish, CBS via AP)

Bad news for Dr. Sheldon Cooper, who doesn't do well with uncertainty on CBS's hyper-hit The Big Bang Theory: No more Soft Kitty lullabies.

Well, possibly.

Turns out the saccharine song that Sheldon (played by Emmy-winning Jim Parsons) needs to calm down or sleep whenever he's anxious (which is practically all the time) may not have been entirely the invention of Big Bang's clever writers.

The heirs of Edith Newlin, a New Hampshire teacher who published a song/poem about a "soft kitty" in 1937, sued CBS and other Big Bang-related media companies, claiming that the show has been violating their copyrights. For years.

According to the Associated Press, Edith Newlin's daughters, Ellen Newlin Chase and Margaret Chase Perry, assert that the show's song uses lyrics similar to those written by Newlin in the 1930s without paying for the rights.

TMZ posted a picture of the original Newlin lyrics page. In the show, the song's opening line is, "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..." In Newlin's version, the song is called Warm Kitty and starts, "Warm kitty, soft kitty, little ball of fur."

Newlin has not been credited, the lawsuit says, leaving viewers with the possible impression that the lyrics were written by someone at the show.

"The Soft Kitty lyrics are among the best-known and most popular aspects of The Big Bang Theory," the lawsuit says. "They have become a signature and emblematic feature of the show and a central part of the show's promotion."

The daughters' lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages from the show's producers and distributors, says the lyrics have been used in their entirety on at least eight episodes of the show since March 2008.

They've also been used in show merchandise, including on clothing, mouse pads, mobile phone covers, wallets, air fresheners, refrigerator magnets, singing plush toys and other products, the lawsuit says.

At three or more Comic-Con conventions since 2010, producers and actors from the sitcom led large audiences in singing the lyrics, the lawsuit says.

Messages seeking comment from CBS and other companies sued by the Newlin heirs were not immediately returned Monday.